Posted: April 4, 2023

5 Concerns in Home Care for Senior Citizens


As more organizations adopt and expand models to provide care at home, it is becoming one of the most promising ways to improve care and cut costs. Home-based care can help keep people out of the hospital and save them money. 

For example, early results from Medicare’s Independence at Home program showed that home-based primary care cut down on visits to the emergency room, hospital stays, and readmissions, saving each beneficiary an average of $2,700 per year. 

But there are risks and problems with using home-based care models a lot. In this blog post, we’ll talk about the top five worries about home-based care and how to deal with them.

What Is Home Care?

Home health care services are medical care given to people in their own homes to help them deal with an illness or injury. This kind of care is not meant to replace hospital care, which is very important, or to take the place of doctors when they do exams or surgeries. Instead, the goal of home health care is to give patients the tools they need to monitor their health and improve their health outcomes.

By letting patients take care of their own medical needs, hospitals can reduce the stress on their often overworked healthcare systems and lower their costs while also giving patients the ability to be their healthcare providers.

Who Is Eligible For Homecare?

Patients who need care but have trouble getting out of the house are a good fit for home care settings. People who are recovering from serious injuries may be among these patients.

  1. Patients trying to avoid problems after giving birth.
  2. Patients who are old.

Home care settings are also good for people who don’t have trouble getting out of the house but still need medical care and don’t want to go to the hospital or emergency room too often. In this group, you might find:

  1. Patients who are getting complicated medical care, like care for wounds or medications through an IV.
  2. Patients learn how to take care of long-term illnesses like diabetes or high blood pressure.
  3. Patients requiring diet management (for both weight loss and weight gain).
  4. Patients keep track of how much medicine they take to make sure they don’t miss any doses.
  5. Patients need to keep track of their vital signs like heart rate, blood pressure, and how fast they breathe.
  6. Patients with mild COVID-19 who need treatment to help them feel better.

Top Concern For The Home Care Receiver’s

Preference of the Patient

The patient’s choice of care at home or in a traditional hospital or clinic should be taken into account. A study found that 54% of older people would rather go to the hospital for treatment of an acute illness. Reasons for this preference include illness reminders, negative caregiver experiences, and social interaction needs. 

Physicians should include patients in making decisions about home-based care, and home-based care programs should make connections with other facilities so that they can meet the needs of people whose preferences change. It is very important to take into account what patients want and need.

Insurance programs don’t pay for help with daily tasks, which makes it harder for patients to stay on their own.

Concerns’ of the physician

Physicians face problems when they provide care at home, such as longer visits and less money under fee-for-service models. They should be paid more if they coordinate care and keep people out of the hospital. In areas with a lot of crime, clinicians’ safety is also a concern. 

This problem can be made less of a problem by taking steps like getting training in de-escalation techniques and emergency response systems. Home-based care must also be taught in medical schools and residency programs so that doctors are ready for the shift from the hospital to the home. Taking care of these problems can make home-based care more available and better.

Lack of Proper Infrastructure

Home-based care is hard to do when there isn’t the right infrastructure, like durable medical equipment (DME) and support services. The number of DME companies has gone down because of policies that encourage competitive bidding. This makes it harder for patients to take care of their acute care needs at home. 

To help patients stay independent at home, payment models must give DME companies a reason to make high-quality equipment and improve service.

Insurance programs don’t pay for help with daily tasks, which makes it harder for patients to stay on their own. CMS has made it easier for non-skilled in-home care services to be covered to encourage the use of home-based care models. 

Health systems need to put money into infrastructure so they can offer a wider range of services, such as mobile labs, mobile radiology, and medication delivery to patients’ homes.

Risks to the Patient’s Safety

When care is given at home, there are risks to the patient’s safety, such as environmental dangers, trouble communicating, and a lack of education and training for both the patient and the caregiver. 

To reduce these risks, it is important to carefully evaluate each patient’s suitability for home-based care and to think about safety in every interaction, from the design of medical equipment to the education of patients and caregivers. Regular home safety checks should be a part of clinical care, and healthcare organizations need consistent safety standards and ways to share data and best practices.

Priority Group Services put patient safety first and use strict risk assessment and mitigation protocols to make sure that home-based care is delivered in a safe and effective way. We also stress how important it is to keep improving our standards and thrive to figure out and implement particular strategies for particular patients and ensure the best service within their comfort zone.  

Lack of Regulatory Environment to Supervise the Home-based Care

Patients worry about their safety when there aren’t clear rules about home-based care. To fix this, people in charge of health care should set up standard ways to measure and report the quality of home-based care and make certification programs for caregivers. Home-based care may also change the U.S. healthcare system by making hospitals less necessary. Administrators and policymakers need to plan for this effect and change how we measure success in healthcare.

Bottom line

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, home care has become a key part of successful healthcare systems. It helps relieve the strain on healthcare systems that are already overworked, lowers costs for patients, and improves outcomes for many patients. The pandemic has changed what it means to be successful in healthcare and shown how important it is to have disruptive and innovative systems that put patient care first. Even though home care has many benefits, many people still worry about it because of the rules and risks to patient safety. But with the help of experienced and trustworthy providers like Priority Group Services, patients can use mobile health solutions and home care apps that improve patient care, give patients more freedom, and make hospitals less busy. Contact Priority Group Services today to find out more about their home care services and how they can help you get the most for your money while keeping you safe and healthy. Call us at 718-400-6166 to learn more about our services.

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